Hanoi's hospitals are ready to respond to new cases of Covid-19 infections, even in the event of a drastic surge in coronavirus patients, Kinh Te & Do thi newspaper reported.

Thanh Nhan Hospital is ready to respond to the Covid-19 epidemic, including the worst-case scenario. Photo: Ha Linh

Deputy General Director of Son Tay General Hospital Nguyen Nhu Quang said that the hospital has prepared human resources, facilities and supplies and worked out different back-up plans in response to each stage of the epidemic. The hospital’s medical staff are on standby 24/7.

For its part, Thanh Nhan Hospital in downtown Hanoi has provided training courses on detection, isolation and avoidance of cross contagion for medical personnel.

Meanwhile, Dong Da General Hospital has established a quarantine area and set up an emergency phone number for inquiries about Covid-19. The hospital has conducted medical checkups for many cases suspected of contracting nCoV.

Director of Hanoi's Health Department Nguyen Khac Hien stressed that given the complicated evolution of the Covid-19 epidemic, his department has requested that medical examination and treatment facilities be prepared for any situation of contingency.

Accordingly, six major hospitals in Hanoi namely Bac Thang Long, Dong Da, Thanh Nhan, Duc Giang, Saint Paul and Ha Dong have been asked to prepare a total of one thousand beds and ensure the supply of drugs, equipment and materials for Covid-19 treatment.

Besides, the city has set up five rapid response teams who are on standby 24/7 for any eventuality of quarantining, finding the source and handling epidemic outbreaks, taking samples of nCoV-suspected cases for testing.

Testing departments in hospitals will be on call 24 hours a day, ensuring that staff sample all suspected cases to be tested when necessary.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Nguyen Khac Hien urged the units to focus on reviewing their epidemic prevention scenarios, actively detect nCoV-infected cases and follow isolation protocol to minimize infection.

Hanoi confirmed the first infection late on March 6 and since then six other cases have been detected in the city. As of March 13, Vietnam reported 45 people positive with the coronavirus.